Portable lift jacks



Nov. 26, 1957 J. 'r. WITCHER 2,814,394

PORTABLE LIFT JACKS Filed March 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Nov. 26, 1957 'J. T. WITCHER PORTABLE LIFT JACKS Filed March 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR JamesTWi/tcher,

ilnited States Fatent O PORTABLE LIFT JACKS James T. Witcher, Roswell, N. Mex.

Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,539

1 Claim. (Cl. 21-41) This invention relates to a portable lift jack and more particularly to a jack adapted for installing transmissions and power units in automotive units and for the removal of the same therefrom.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lift jack especially designed for lifting heavy transmissions underneath automobile vehicles and in places where it is impossible to locate overhead hoists.

It is another object of the invention to provide a portable lifting jack operable on casters which has a lifting arm with an adjustable support thereon to effect the angular adjustment of the transmission or other unit being retained and wherein there is a hand adjustment for tilting support fore and aft to assist in the locating of the unit in place under the vehicle, the adjustment being manipulated by hand upon the lifting jack being located under the vehicle and the unit being generally positioned in the desired location to be finally mounted.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a lifting jack adapted for use in mounting transmission or power units invehicles, having the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, rugged and durable, compact, easy to manipulate, convenient to use, eflicient and effective in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the lifting jack;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the lifting jack with illustration made as to the manner in which the lifting arm is adjusted between low and elevated positions;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the lifting jack showing the arm lowered to its low position with illustration made as to the manner in which it is elevated;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the outer end of the lifting arm and the adjustable mechanism thereon and as viewed on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the adjustable support on the outer end of the lifting arm as viewed on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the figures, 1G and 11 represent two diverging frame members which are connected to a floor piece 12 at the forward end by any suitable means such as welding and which are held in spaced relationship adjacent their rear ends by a transverse spreader 13 welded at its ends to the sides of the frame pieces. The frame pieces and 11 are separated at their forward ends and respectively have the casters 14 on their forward ends and casters 15, and on their rear ends the respective casters 16 and 17.

Extending upwardly from the forward end of the floor piece is a channel support 18 to which lift arm 19 is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 20 and which ex- -2 tends in a bisecting manner rearwardly and above the frame pieces 10 and 11.

At the rearward edge of the floor piece 12 is a rear support 21 that extends upright and which is longer than the forward support 18. This support is bent at its upper end, as indicated at 22, and has a series of holes 23 vertically spaced from one another and at different eleva= tions, into which a supporting pin 24 maybe placedto support the lifting arm 19 in any of its adjusted or ele-' vated positions and independently of liftingjack 25.

The lifting jack 25 is supported on a shelf '26 that can be placed at different elevations between the supports 18 and 21., there being on these respective supports vertically spaced projections 27 and 28 over which the ends of the shelf 26* may be extended tosupport the shelf. The lifting jack may be either hydraulic or pneumatic and a hose 29 extends therefrom through which fluid under pressure is delivered to effect the lifting of plunger 30 having a round head 31 engageable with a wear plate 32 on the underside of the arm 19.

On the outer and free endof arm 19 are side straps 34 and 35 opposing one another and to which there is welded a sleeve extension 36 having a set screw 37 by which an adjustable sleeve support 38 is retained in its axially adjustable position. The sleeve support 38 also can be rotated in the sleeve 36, as shown'in Fig. 6, and held in an angularly adjusted position. This sleeve 38 carries a supporting plate 39 by means ofits depending laterally spaced straps 40 and 41 that are pivotally connected at their lower ends to the sleeve 38 by pivot pin 42.

The sleeve 38 has a flat extension 44 that carries a vertically extending internally threaded bushing 45. This bushing 45 is connected between depending lugs 46 on a pivot pin 47 so that the bushing 45 can be pivoted fore and aft. An adjusting screw 48 is adjustable in the threaded bushing 45 and has a crank handle arm 49 on its lower end. The projection 44 has an elongated slot 50, Fig. 5, to permit the adjusting screw 48 to pivot fore and aft as a vertical adjustment of the screw is made and support 39 is tilted fore and aft relative to the arm 19 so as to maintain the same level when the arm 19 is adjusted from its horizontal position as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

A transmission or engine block or other part adapted to be placed under the vehicle is fixed upon the supporting plate 39 and carried by means of the lift to the location under the vehicle.

In order to retain the transmission or engine part upon the supporting plate 39, there are provided two transverse chains 52 and 53. Each chain is connected by a loop 54 to an eye 55 secured to one side of the plate 39. The other end of the chain is connected by a ring 56 to an adjustable screw 57 threaded through a nut 58 secured to the underside of the plate 39 and having a crank handle arm 59 thereon. On turning this screw 57 the chain will be brought tight against the transmission or engine part or will be released therefrom. It will be seen that these chains 53 can be easily removed from the part once the part has been located and positioned for attachment to other parts of the vehicle. It will be further seen that the adjusting screws 47 and 48 are easily available to the operator from underneath the vehicle. If the lifting arm 19 has to be tilted or inclined from a horizontal and the transmission or engine has to remain in a horizontal position, the adjusting screw 48 will tilt the support 39 fore and aft so that engine or transmission part canbe held in a horizontal position regardless of the inclination of the lifting arm 19.

If an angular adjustment of the support 39 is needed, the set screw 37 will be loosened and the supporting plate 39 tilted to the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 6.

It will be apparent that the lifting jack device 25 can be elevatedto different positions depending upon the amount of lift desired upon the lifting arm. The lifting arm 19 has a dropped forward part on which the supporting plate 39 is; adjustably connected. This permits the arm 19 to lower the supporting plate 39 to a low position between the base members 10 and 11, as shown in Fig. 3. By lowering the position of the jack 25 upon the supports 18 and 21, the lifting arm, 19 can be lowered into a location beneath the base members 10 and 11. Also, the lifting arm 19 can be elevated to an extremely high or vertical position by locating the jack 25 elevated upon the supports 18 and 21.- The pin 24 adapted to fit into any, of the holes 23 will hold the lifting arm elevated while the jack shelf 26 and the jack 25 are positioned at another elevation. The pin 24 is also used to prevent any lowering of the lifting arm upon failure of the jack 25 which might result in injury to the workman or to a breakage of the part.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a portable lifting jack adapted to locate automotive parts from underneath a vehicle, the improvement comprising a base frame having casters thereon, said base frame comprising diverging frame members, longitudinally spaced vertical supports extending upwardly from the base, a lifting arm having a fixed pivot at one end IO- tatably connected to one of said supports, the opposite end of said lifting arm having a sleeve fixed thereto, a second sleeve slidably supported within said fixed sleeve, screw means for securingsaid second sleeve in an adjusted position with respect to said fixed sleeve, the other of said vertical supports being higher than said one vertical support, said other support having a plurality of vertically spaced holes adjacent to said lifting arm, said lifting arm including a pair of vertically spaced members, the lower one of said members being disposed at said one end and the higher one of said members being disposed at said other end, and a pin extending through selective ones of said holes and beneath said lower one of said lifting arm members adapted to support said arm in a selected angular and vertical position with respect to said base frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 839,479 Howe Dec. 25, 1906 1,307,600 Rose et a1 June 24, 1919 1,489,161 Schuchert Apr. 1, 1924 1,498,020 Drake June 17, 1924 1,650,810 Weaver Nov. 29, 1927 2,335,130 Moran Nov. 23, 1943 2,523,734 Stephenson et al. Sept. 26, 1950 2,584,015 Hawes Jan. 29, 1952 2,621,891 Marsh Dec. 16, 1952 2,629,582 Stephenson et al Feb. 24, 1953 2,630,930 Ulrich Mar. 10, 1953 2,643,779 Hamlin June 30, 1953 2,675,209 Freed Apr. 13, 1954 

